Casten, 109 House Democrats Demand GAO Track Federal Fund Disbursement Delays
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representative Sean Casten led 109 House Democrats in a letter to Comptroller General Gene Dodaro of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) demanding the GAO develop and maintain a database to systematically track delays in disbursing appropriated and obligated funds to American communities.
“The freezing of IRA and IIJA funds has already had immediate and measurable consequences, jeopardizing national and state climate initiatives and harming communities that rely on this funding,” the lawmakers wrote. “...The lack of transparency around the executive order's implementation has made it difficult for impacted communities, businesses, and state governments to plan effectively, creating unnecessary uncertainty, financial hardship, and disruption to critical infrastructure projects.”
In January 2025, the White House implemented a freeze on federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), even though most of these funds had already been congressionally appropriated and obligated. Although multiple court rulings have struck down these freezes, the Trump administration has been slow to comply, leaving many grant and funding recipients unable to access the funds they were promised.
In addition to Rep. Casten, the letter was signed by Reps. Ansari, Yassamin; Balint, Becca; Barragán, Nanette; Beatty, Joyce; Beyer, Donald; Bishop, Sanford; Boyle, Brendan; Brownley, Julia; Brown, Shontel; Budzinski, Nikki; Carbajal, Salud; Case, Ed; Casten, Sean; Cherfilus-McCormick, Sheila; Cisneros, Gilbert; Clarke, Yvette; Cleaver, Emanuel; Cohen, Steve; Correa, J.; Costa, Jim; Crockett, Jasmine; Davis, Danny; DeGette, Diana; Deluzio, Christopher; DeSaulnier, Mark; Espaillat, Adriano; Evans, Dwight; Fields, Cleo; Figures, Shomari; Foster, Bill; Friedman, Laura; Frost, Maxwell; Garamendi, John; García, Jesús; Garcia, Robert; Garcia, Sylvia; Goldman, Daniel; Goodlander, Maggie; Himes, James; Houlahan, Chrissy; Hoyle, Val; Huffman, Jared; Ivey, Glenn; Jackson, Jonathan; Jacobs, Sara; Jayapal, Pramila; Johnson, Julie; Kaptur, Marcy; Kelly, Robin; Kennedy, Timothy; Khanna, Ro; Krishnamoorthi, Raja; Landsman, Greg; Larsen, Rick; Latimer, George; Lee, Susie; Leger Fernandez, Teresa; Levin, Mike; Lieu, Ted; Lofgren, Zoe; Matsui, Doris; McBath, Lucy; McClain Delaney, April; McCollum, Betty; McGovern, James; McIver, LaMonica; Meeks, Gregory; Moore, Gwen; Moskowitz, Jared; Moulton, Seth; Mullin, Kevin; Nadler, Jerrold; Neguse, Joe; Norton, Eleanor; Olszewski, Johnny; Panetta, Jimmy; Peters, Scott; Pettersen, Brittany; Pocan, Mark; Quigley, Mike; Ramirez, Delia; Randall, Emily; Raskin, Jamie; Ross, Deborah; Salinas, Andrea; Scanlon, Mary Gay; Scott, Robert; Smith, Adam; Sorensen, Eric; Soto, Darren; Stansbury, Melanie; Stanton, Greg; Stevens, Haley; Strickland, Marilyn; Subramanyam, Suhas; Takano, Mark; Thanedar, Shri; Thompson, Bennie; Thompson, Mike; Titus, Dina; Tokuda, Jill; Torres, Ritchie; Trahan, Lori; Underwood, Lauren; Vargas, Juan; Velázquez, Nydia; Wasserman Schultz, Debbie; Waters, Maxine; and Williams, Nikema.
A copy of the letter can be found here. Text of the letter can be found below.
Dear Mr. Dodaro:
We write to request that the Government Accountability Office (GAO), with support from its Federal Budget, Grants, and Contracting and National Security Acquisitions teams, among others, establish an accessible database to systematically track disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The Trump Administration’s disruptive January 20, 2025 Executive Order 14154 sowed chaos and confusion across the country for Federal funding recipients, and the Administration’s subsequent actions, such as the clarifying guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in memorandum M-25-11 on January 21, 2025, the notice of court order distributed by the Department of Justice on February 3, 2025, and many of the Administration’s subsequent actions have been insufficient to provide certainty for our constituents.
Many of the aforementioned executive actions have caused Federal agencies to halt the disbursement of funds for a wide range of energy and environmental programs, including initiatives that support clean energy deployment, grid modernization, electric vehicle infrastructure, and energy efficiency upgrades for low-income communities.
The freezing of IRA and IIJA funds has already had immediate and measurable consequences, jeopardizing national and state climate initiatives and harming communities that rely on this funding. Some real-world examples of the impact that the funding pause has had are:
- School districts in Illinois that received $15 million in funding from the Department of Energy could not access funds to deploy zero-emission school buses that are integrated with on-site battery systems to help school buildings keep the lights on during power outages and improve air pollution.
- States have been denied access to funding intended to help low-income communities install residential solar panels, reducing energy costs for vulnerable households.
- A Missouri school district has been blocked from accessing a $9.45 million Environmental Protection Agency grant intended to transition its school bus fleet to electric vehicles, a move that would reduce refueling costs and lower student exposure to harmful air emissions.
- Grid modernization projects in Georgia are at risk, threatening regional energy reliability and increasing costs for ratepayers.
These are only a few examples of the widespread impact of this funding freeze. The lack of transparency around the executive order's implementation has made it difficult for impacted communities, businesses, and state governments to plan effectively, creating unnecessary uncertainty, financial hardship, and disruption to critical infrastructure projects.
Federal courts have weighed in on this matter. On January 31 and February 3, 2025, two separate Federal court rulings found that the funding freeze raises constitutional concerns and issued temporary injunctions blocking any efforts to “pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate” these appropriated funds. Despite these rulings, on February 10, 2025, a judge in Federal court found that the Trump administration had defied its order to release Federal grant money, directly disobeying a judicial mandate. Grant recipients have also reported continued difficulties with payments. In addition, Members of Congress have received little clarity on how Federal agencies are responding and whether funding is now flowing as required by law, with many agencies even preventing building access.
While there is anecdotal and journalistic evidence of these funding disruptions, no comprehensive, publicly accessible database currently exists to track these potential violations systematically. As Members of Congress, we cannot effectively serve our constituents if we cannot see the full extent of the problem. Without transparency, we lack the tools necessary to advocate for communities that depend on these funds. The currently available public reporting on awards and disbursements is insufficient and outdated, making it difficult for us to provide effective and timely information to our constituents – especially those who are most vulnerable and may be afraid to speak out.
We urge the appropriate officers within the GAO to establish a publicly accessible database that tracks the status of IRA and IIJA funds, in particular a database that provides details on the awards, obligations, and disbursements of those funds. To the extent practicable, this database should also delineate any funds, awards, obligations, or disbursements affected by the aforementioned or similar Executive Orders and administrative actions. This database would help Congress effectively monitor the status of these historic investments and communicate with our constituents to better navigate a complicated and opaque budget execution process.
We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
###